You are here

Libyan Rebel Leader to Sue Jack Straw

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled that a former Libyan dissident Abdul-Hakim Belhaj can sue the former foreign secretary Jack Straw, according to the ruling published on the Supreme Court’s website.
Abdul-Hakim Belhaj alleges that MI6, which Jack Straw was responsible for at the time, helped the US kidnap him in Asia in 2004 to return him and his wife to Tripoli, Sputnik reported.
Straw rejects the claims that he had been aware of the rendition. All seven judges of the Supreme Court dismissed the government’s appeal as the rendition and torture breached the rights enshrined in the Magna Carta, local media reported. According to Magna Carta “No free man shall be taken, or imprisoned… excepting by legal judgment of his peers of the land.”
According to the ruling, the Supreme Court views the allegations as so serious that they had to be heard before a British court. If not, the allegations may never be heard anywhere else in the world, the ruling reads. Belhaj’s lawyers said that he and his wife have offered to settle for a token of £1 in damages and an apology.
Abdul-Hakim Belhaj and his wife were detained in Kuala Lumpur in 2004. The couple alleges that MI6 was responsible for their rendition to Libya against their will as the secret service informed the Libyan authorities of their location. Belhaj claims that the United Kingdom “arranged, assisted and encouraged” their rendition, as well as conspired in and assisted torture, inhumane and degrading treatment inflicted on them by the US and Libyan authorities, the ruling reads.